January 17th, 2015 was a truly amazing day at Buti T Ful Farms, in lovely Plant City, Florida.

We hosted our first ever fundraiser with a goal of $5,000.00 in our mind to help fund a cure for this horrible disease called FA that affects our amazing nephew Gavin Lambert. The day started out with perfect weather and tired cooks as my brother and Gavin's dad had been up all night BBQ'ing for the event. Then it happened...the petting zoo arrived, the horses and ponies arrived; the bounce houses and the tents and most importantly our volunteers.

Next thing you know the first guests were at check-in and it seemed to never stop from that moment on. We had multiple special guests which included a magician, Queen Elsa of Frozen fame and Thunderbug from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Carnival games, prizes, train rides, face painting, horse rides, pony rides, petting zoo and greenhouse tours and I don't think the children ever had a moment to be bored. Our DJ was able to keep people entertained with amazing music selections and the BBQ was out of this world as said by all who ate. Several Plant City farmers donated flats of strawberries which were in peak season. So that portion of the auction went extremely well. :-)

 

The children were able to harvest vegetables right out of the greenhouse and even received a lesson in how to plant and were each able to take a planting home with them if they wanted.

It was an awesome day! In being asked what was the best moment of the day, I would have to say the moment I heard that we were going to meet our $5,000.00 goal...not ashamed to say I cried like a little girl. You can only imagine the flood works that occurred when I heard 7, 8, 9 and then finally that we surpassed $10,000.00 with our first ever event.

When asked why we chose this task, it's an easy answer. Since becoming affiliated with the FA community my heart strings have been pulled to do whatever I can. Gavin along with the Avery girls and Kyle Bryant are my every day heroes and my constant daily reminders of why. The FA community spirit it is so infectious that you can't help but want to do something more and thus FARA Family Fun Day FundRaiser on the Farm was born. Yes we will most certainly be hosting another one next year which will include a cornhole tournament. Save the date for Saturday, January 17th, 2016 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Our target goal for next year will be $10,000.00 in hopes that we double that goal next year.

 

Special thanks to Elizabeth Brown Photography for generously donating her time and talents to capture our event so beautifully!

 

 

FamilyFunontheFarm